Pinky Promise
by Anlgsp
Summary: Post 2x07 "She's got you". Deacon reflects on his relationship with Maddie and tries to figure out where to start. Then he remembers a little promise he made to a sweet little girl on her fifth birthday and realizes that maybe the start he was looking for has been there all along.


**Hello there! I wasn't really planning on posting anything new anytime soon to be honest, let alone this one shot I wrote about 5, maybe 6 months ago. But then Wednesday episode happened (Thanks again God) and that scene between Deacon and Rayna at his house, when he mentioned teaching Maddie how to play guitar, rang a bell for me. Looking through my phone notes, I found this little one shot. I never thought I'd use it, actually hadn't Deacon mentioned that I probably wouldn't have remembered of it even. It's not very Deyna centric (if at all) and I decided to use the last episode's events to start this little travel back in time. I always suspected music is what would eventually bring Deacon and Maddie together, just like it brought Deacon and Rayna together in the beginning, and I'm surprised I wrote this well before their little music connection was mentioned on the show (maybe it wasn't that hard to figure out, now was it?).  
This one shot is probably going to give you diabetes or maybe, if you're lucky, just a couple of cavities, but I will not pay for your doctor bills so you might as well stop here if you can't afford it.  
A big thank you to my boo sparklymichelle for being a great support and always encouraging me to write.  
****I hope you enjoy my little fluff, for once I decided to put the drama (okay okay the smut) aside and put to good use what little is left of my pure soul. Happy reading!**

Rayna closed the door behind her and left him there to _think about that_. Deacon didn't exactly know what there was to think about if he was being honest. Did he really have a choice? Did he ever had a choice in that matter? He couldn't remember the last time he made a choice of his own since he became an alcoholic. For a long time his actions had always been triggered by something or rather _someone_. Nothing had been really his choice in the past twenty years. Last but not least Maddie. He started pacing the room, Rayna's words echoing in his head '_I'm not gonna open up that door if there's a chance you might close it on her_'…._'She really wants to see you_'…._'A lot of things used to be easier_'. Deacon stopped, his train of thoughts coming to a halt as well. Did things use to be easier after all for him? Surely they used to be easier for Rayna and Maddie, but for him…had they ever been easy for him? Deacon grabbed the guitar standing on the side of the couch and took a seat on it, placing the loyal companion in his lap. He gently strummed the six chords with his fingertips, the soft sound coming from it calmed it at once. Impulsively his left hand found its haven on the neck of the guitar and his pads pressed on a couple of strings, a pang of pain shot up from his forearm all the way through his hand. It was uncanny how even the simplest notes he tried to play, produced such a large amount of pain these days. If he couldn't play an A minor or an A major, there was really little hope he would go back to being the great guitar player everybody known him as. He looked down at what used to be his best friend and was now his worst enemy and ruefully smiled, remembering the time he taught those very same chords to his own daughter. Maybe things used to be easier when he was just _Uncle Deacon_ or maybe not. Maybe things had never been really easy. It was just easier to pretend they were back then.

_"Hey birthday girl." Deacon poked his head into what appeared to be Rayna's music room. He'd never been there before. It was actually the first time he sat foot into Rayna's Belle Meade's manor. Personally Deacon could have gone a little bit longer without crossing that threshold, but one day at rehearsal an extremely excited Maddie had cornered him and coerced a yes out of him to her little mermaid themed birthday party invitation that would have taken place the following day._

_"Hey." She replied with a sigh swinging her feet back and forth off the sofa._

_"What are you doing in here all alone?" He asked leaning on the door frame._

_"I'm hiding." The little girl whispered, almost scared to reveal her big secret._

_"Hiding? From who?" Deacon asked curiously. _

_"Everyone." Maddie said still looking at the parquet in the room. The sad expression on her face breaking Deacon's heart in two._

_"Can I hide in here with you?" He gestured to the couch._

_"I guess. " Maddie shrugged. "Why do you want to hide too?" She finally lifted her head up and glanced at Deacon who was now sitting on her left._

_"I don't like parties very much."_

_"Me neither. Why don't you like them?"_

_"I don't know...I just don't like them. But this is your party, you should go out there and have fun with your friends." Deacon said matter of factly rubbing Maddie's back._

_"I don't like them." She said unapologetically._

_"Why is that?"_

_"They always make fun of me at school because I wear glasses. They're not really my friends. Don't know why mommy invited them." She sighed and pushed her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose._

_"I am sure your mom meant well. Did you talk to her about them being mean to you?" Deacon received a head shake in response. "Why not?"_

_"Daphne." Maddie growled. _

_"Daphne?" He asked confusion taking over him._

_"Yes Daphne. That's all mommy and daddy care about." The little girl's arms flew in the air and then landed back on the couch._

_"Sweetheart that's just not true. They care about you too a lot. Daphne needs more attention than you do because while you're a big girl, she's still a baby and needs your mommy to feed her and change her and all that stuff your mommy does." Taking her hand in his own Deacon squeezed it tenderly._

_"They don't love me anymore, nobody does." Maddie retreated her hand and plopped her elbows on her knees, resting her chin on her palms. "And this party sucks. And Daphne sucks. And these little sandwiches suck." She groaned pointing to a plate on the floor, right below her swinging feet._

_"Oh yes, these little sandwiches suck big time." Deacon agreed with a chuckle. "Okay okay, come here." He lifted the girl up and put her on his lap. "I see we have some great material for a song here, want to write a song with me?" He kissed her head waiting for an answer._

_"Okay." Replied allowing him to convince her._

_"Sweet. Go grab that guitar." A wide smile appeared on his face as he pointed to the guitar in the corner of the room. Maddie tiptoed all the way to the far end of the room and then ran back to Deacon, guitar securely in hand, climbing on his lap again. "Alright, did your mom ever teach you how to play guitar?" He asked while positioning the guitar right on her legs._

_"I know how to do this." Rayna's daughter surely had some musical talent, for she positioned her little fingers on two string and gently played an A major chord._

_"That's very good. What else do you know how to do?" He beamed, awestruck by what the little girls had just done._

_"This." A smile crept into her voice as she positioned her left forefinger on the fret right next to the previous one to play an A minor chord._

_"I'm impressed. Did your mom teach you how to play?" Maddie nodded her little head enthusiastically, for the first time not hiding behind her bashfulness. "That's very cool, but you see she's not a great guitar player."_

_"Oh?" _

_"Yeah. But lucky for you I am a much better guitar player than her and I surely can try and teach you a thing or two." Deacon murmured in her ear tickling her neck with his fingertips._

_"Okay." She answered promptly trying to stifle a giggle. "Do you play the piano too? Mommy plays the piano." She pointed to the piano behind her._

_"I do, but it's not my thing, I suppose that's kind of more your mama's thing."_

_"I love when she plays it, she looks real pretty when she plays." A solemn nod followed the little girl's words._

_"Prettier than I do with this guitar?" Deacon asked taking the guitar off her lap and hugging it to his left side striking a funny pose._

_Maddie laughed and shook her head vigorously. "Mommy is prettier than everybody I know. She's the prettiest girl in the woooorld." A squeal erupted from her small frame as she made a big circle in the air with her arms._

_"I will have to disagree with you. She's the second prettiest girl in the world."_

_"You're silly. You don't know a girl prettier than mommy either, because she's just the prettiest." She retorted._

_"Oh yes I do. And I am looking at her right this moment." He poked her chest and Maddie turned twelve shades of red before hiding her face behind her hands. "Okay let's play a little something here. Put your fingers here, yes just like that." Deacon encouraged her helping her to place the pad of her fingers on the right spot. "Okay, press your finger real tight on this string now." Maddie did as told and her fingertips instantly turned red and white. "And now…" Deacon took her right hand into his and gently strummed the first three strings of the guitar. "Well done Maddie."_

_"Did I do it right?" The girl looked up at him adoringly._

_"Of course you did, Maddie Conrad you have a gift. Let's try this then." He gently moved her fingers along the fret. "Okay not like like that, like this." He showed her how to cup the guitar's neck so that her fingers could reach the higher strings. "Okay, now try to keep your fingers as close as possible between each other."_

_"I'm not good at this." Maddie sighed sadly taking her hands off the instrument._

_"Of course you are, let's try one more time." Bringing her hand back on the neck of the guitar he helped her position her fingers back on the strings and offered her a nod of encouragement. Maddie took a big breath and strummed the guitar producing an absolute clean sound._

_"Good job!" Deacon praised squeezing her right side with his hand._

_"I did it?" Big brown eyes gazed up at him behind red-rimmed glasses in utter surprise._

_"Yes ma'am." He nodded euphorically. "You're very talented, that was not an easy chord to play."_

_"Really?" The biggest smile broke on her face and Deacon couldn't help but return it with one of his own._

_"Yes. Now that we've learned a few chords, what should we write this song about?"_

_"Smelly Daphne." Maddie answered nonchalantly._

_"Smelly Daphne?" He asked failing at keeping a straight face._

_"Yes. She stinks, kind of a lot. She always poops herself, all day everyday. It's really bad." The serious expression on her face made Deacon laugh so hard he almost lost his grip on the girl and make her fall off his lap._

_"Alright. Smelly Daphne it is then." _

_"Uncle Deacon you're the best." Maddie clapped her hands excitedly and then frowned. "I can call you uncle Deacon, can't I?" She looked up at Deacon searching his eyes for an answer. "Mommy never said anything about you, but she said I could call Uncle Bucky like that if I wanted to. Can I call you Uncle Deacon too?"_

_"Sweetheart you can call me whatever you want." Deacon looked down at her stroking her hair. "Except Smelly Deacon."_

_"Oh I won't, you smell nothing like Daphne Uncle Deacon." Maddie smirked mischievously at him and the laughed again. That little girl had something special about her, she was holding Deacon in the palm of her hand and he didn't seem to mind one bit._

"_Okay, so any lyrics in mind for this song?"_

"_Uhm…" Maddie tapped her chin with her finger. "Let's see….we need something that rhymes with pig."_

"_Pig?"_

"_Yes. Daddy and I went to this farm once while mommy was on tour and they had pigs too there. Big smelly pigs. Daphne is just like them, only smaller." The little girl said as candidly as only a child could._

"_Oh Lord!" Deacon was overwhelmed by a fit of laughter._

"_It's true." Maddie looked unimpressed._

"_Alright. See how you like this, okay?" Deacon started strumming his guitar. "I've got a new sister, looks so pretty when mommy dresses her in pink, but boy I gotta admit, It's terrible how much she stinks."_

"_I love it!" Maddie clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Play it again, play it again!"_

_The girl's giggles and laughs could be heard all the way down the hallway as well as the distinct sound of a guitar. "Hey you two." A smiley Rayna appeared at the door, intruding in their little fun._

_"Hey Rayna." Deacon glanced up smiling brightly at her._

"_Having fun?"_

"_Oh you have no idea." Deacon grinned dropping a kiss to Maddie's head._

_"Maddie you got me worried, we've been looking all over the place for you. I don't want you to disappear like that again. Am I understood?" Rayna scolded the little girl._

_"Yes mommy." She looked down shyly, embarrassed even._

_"Good." Rayna deadpanned bringing a hand to her hip._

_"We were just-"_

_"Hiding out, I know." Rayna interrupted him holding her hand up to stop him. "Get back to the party. Both of you." Her finger pointed to her daughter first and then to Deacon. The little girl jumped off Deacon's lap and reluctantly made her way to the door._

_"Hey Uncle Deacon?" She hesitated in the doorway to look back at him. Rayna's eyes grew wide at the use of the words 'Uncle' and 'Deacon' in the same sentence but none of the other two occupants of the room seemed to notice._

_"Yes, sweetheart?"_

_"Can we play together again some time?" Maddie asked hopefully._

_"Sure thing, I would love to." Deacon smiled down at her._

_"Ooooh we have to pinky promise this!" A twinkle appeared in the little girl eyes as she rushed back to the couch and took his right hand in her own._

_"What is th-" Maddie intertwined her little pinky with his and then rotated their joint hands in the air three times. "Oh, okay." Deacon chortled as the five years old ran out of the room smugly giggling for the extorted promise._

_"Thank you for keeping her out of trouble." Rayna softly laughed. " I don't know what is the matter with her lately." With a sigh she walked over to the couch and sat down in the spot that had been previously claimed by her daughter._

_"She's not the princess of the castle anymore." Deacon put the guitar down leaned back against the couch looking at her._

_"What do you mean?" Rayna rested her elbow on the back of the couch, leaning unconsciously closer to him. _

_"She's jealous of all the attention Daphne is getting." He explained further trying to suppress the smile that the corner of his lips were turning up into._

_"You think so?" _

_"I know so, she said it herself."_

_"Maddie did?" Rayna's eyebrows shot up. "She has never talked to me about it."_

_"I think she just wants her mommy all to herself a little bit. She made me write a song about how much Daphne stinks. You don't want to damage that sisterly bond before it is even forged, do you?" Deacon nudged her with his elbow smirking._

_"She did what?" She gasped before two loud laughs filled in the room. "Oh my God. I really need to talk to her." She shook her head in disbelief._

_"Yup." _

_"You're not going to cut that song and make a huge hit out of it now, right? My baby girl smells amazingly good." Each word of Rayna's last sentence marked by a tap of her forefinger on his bicep._

_"No worries. And I am sure she does, although I haven't had the pleasure to tell for myself." Deacon smiled gingerly at her. _

_"Come with me" Rayna clasped his hand and dragged him out of the room and up the stairs until they reached a white door covered with cute black and yellow bees and white daisy stickers._

_"Teddy would probably have a fit if he saw me in here" Came out in a whisper as they entered the white and pink nursery, trying not to focus on the warmth emanating throughout his body from Rayna's touch._

_"Teddy is too busy trying to sell houses to half of our kid friends' parents to notice we're gone." Rayna leaned over the white crib and took what looked like a bundle of candy floss in her arms, careful not to wake her up. She turned around and nodded to Deacon, positioning her in his waiting arms. "Here." She said putting back in place the yellow pacifier that was threatening to fall off the baby's lips before she could put her set of lungs to good use._

_"Wow." Deacon said as he peaked over the edge of the blanket. He was mesmerized. He hadn't seen many newborns in his life, but was pretty sure none of them could compare to this beauty. His eyes darted from her teeny tiny pink hand to her little button nose to the few blonde hair on her head. She was a vision._

_"I know right?" Rayna beamed with pride, softly stroking her daughter's hand with her forefinger. _

_"She's beautiful Ray." He breathed out, lifting one tiny fist with the pad of his finger._

_"Thank you."_

_"And she definitely does smell awfully good." He finally looked up and flashed her one of his heart melting smiles._

_"There goes your big hit." Rayna announced teasingly._

_"It was Maddie's big hit anyway." Deacon shrugged slowly rocking Daphne back and forth._

_"You look good." The words tumbled out of Rayna's mouth before she could even give it a thought._

_"Wh-?"_

_"With a baby." Rayna was quick to add. "You look good with a baby in your arms." Awkwardly she shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans._

_"Ah, I don't think so." Deacon tore his gaze away from her and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat instants before._

_"You look good." She nodded reassuringly._

_"That time has come and gone, you know?" The words wistfully left his lips in a murmur as he nestled Daphne closer to him._

_"I don't think so. You're still young and all kinds of handsome and sexy, you surely still have a couple of aces up your sleeve." She laughed softly trying to break the tension of the moment._

_"If it wasn't meant for us, it surely is not meant to happen for me with anybody else Ray." Their gazes met and they both stilled, looking for words that were nowhere to be found._

_"Deacon..." Rayna began to say, but fell short in her attempt to fill that silence with something._

_"She's perfect Ray." Deacon's smile completed her sentence._

_"Thanks." She said in a soft voice choked with emotion, as Deacon carefully handed the baby back to her._

_"I better get going." He sighed jerking his chin toward the door._

_"You're not staying for the cake?" Rayna said failing at hiding the disappointment in her voice._

_"I feel like I overstayed my welcome."_

_"That's not true." She shook her head as she delicately wrapped the baby snugly to her chest._

_"Tell Maddie I said goodbye please." He leaned down and brushed a gentle kiss to the baby's forehead. _

_Rayna offered him a small smile before he turned on his heels and headed for the door. "Deacon?" _

_"Yeah?"_

_"Thanks for coming. It meant a lot to Maddie. It meant a lot to me too." Deacon looked down for a moment and then back up at her with misty eyes that mirrored hers. Then he smiled at her and left before any of them gave in to the temptation to utter words that would do nothing but burn like salt sprinkled on a fresh wound._

_"Uncle Deacon! Uncle Deacon! Uncle Deacon!" Maddie trotted in his direction as she spotted him making a beeline for the backdoor downstairs._

_"Hey sweetheart." Deacon beamed at her leaning down and sweeping her off her feet and into his arms._

_"Are you leaving already?" The little girl asked, not troubling herself with hiding the hope he would stay a bit more in her tone._

_"Yes, I'm so sorry I can't stay longer." Deacon answered stroking her cheek with the back of his hand._

_"It's okay." Maddie shrugged understandingly pushing her glass up her nose with her finger._

_"Maddie?" Teddy called entering the kitchen. "Oh there you are." He sighed, but froze when he put in focus who was holding her._

_"Teddy." Deacon gave him a nod and swiftly put the kid back on her feet._

_"Deacon." Rayna's husband replied just as icily. "Honey it's time to cut the cake." He outstretched his hand to Maddie._

_"Alright." The little girl latched her hand to his. "Bye Uncle Deacon." She waved looking up at him._

_"Bye sweetheart, I'll see you soon okay?"_

_"Okay."_

_"Say thanks to Deacon for coming Maddie." Teddy prodded his daughter._

_"Thank you for coming." She said with a happy smile that made his trip to the wolf's lair worth his while._

_"It was my pleasure." Deacon nodded at her and watched as her father led her back to the party._

_"Hey Uncle Deacon?" Maddie left her daddy's side and ran back to Deacon, motioning with her hands for him to kneel down. "Don't forget about our pinky promise." She whispered in his ear placing both her little hands on each side of her mouth._

_"I could never forget about that." Deacon whispered back and planted a soft kiss onto her rosy cheek. Before he knew it Maddie's arms were wrapped around his neck tightly and her head was comfortably resting on his shoulder. His left hand awkwardly stroked her back a couple of times before the little girl broke the hug and bounced back to her party in her fluffy pink party dress.  
_

Deacon snapped out of his trance and placed the guitar back in its original spot. He couldn't play it now and might never be able to play it again, but he needed to try and learn how to be himself even without a guitar. That piece of wood behind which he had hidden his flaws for years and years could no longer be his saving grace. Much to his dismay, he had learned a long time ago to accept that life sometimes doesn't go according to plan, that no matter what you do some things…well they just can't be changed. But almost 10 birthday parties later life was finally giving him a chance to change what they all thought, and maybe pretended even, could never be changed. Deacon smiled to himself, maybe the time had come to suit action to his words: one could break a hand, but one certainly could not break a _pinky promise_.


End file.
